Vanilla Plum Muffins
Can I blame Martha Stewart for my diet failures? After all it was her PBS show that got me thinking about plum muffins. In the end I converted her recipe to something a bit healthier–less sugar, less fat, all whole wheat (pastry) flour—and still tasty enough to make twice in a row. So I guess I can’t complain after all.
Vanilla Plum Muffins
The other part of my inspiration was the remnants of my brandied plums from last fall. Soaked in brandy with sugar, vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks, they turned out to be the easiest—and most popular—fruit I preserved all year. But I’m pretty sure that the muffins would be good with plain plums too (or the adventuresome can sub in a little brandy for part of the milk).
Vanilla Plum Muffins with Jar of brandy preserved plums
My final change was to mix everything in together like a standard muffin. Martha did a middle layer of plums and cinnamon sugar to make it more coffeecake like. The last time I tried this (I used an award winning coffeecake recipe to make coffeecake muffins), I found the muffins a bit hard to handle. And who wants high maintenance muffins?
Vanilla Plum Muffin, served
At 200 calories per muffin, these work even on my diet. Here’s to the coming return of swimsuit season!
- • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- • 2 t baking powder
- • 1/4 t baking soda
- • 1/2 cup sugar
- • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- • 2 eggs
- • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- • 1 cup milk
- • 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
- • 1 c chopped plums, about 3 plums (brandied if you can get them)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sugar; set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and milk. Whisk in the melted butter. Combine the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until just blended. Do not overmix. Fold in chopped plums.
- Fill muffin cups almost to top, then bake 20-25 min (check at 15 minutes) at 375F, until toothpick inserted in muffin center comes out clean. Serve warm or cool.
go ahead and blame martha–she won’t care! these muffins look great; plums don’t get enough love!
You are probably right–I’ll bet Martha gets blamed for lots of things! You know once I discovered preserving plums in brandy, they started getting lots of love here 😉
They look so pretty, and sound delicious! Good luck with your diet.
Thanks Freeda. It was going great at first, but I think I’m in the tough phase now, so I appreciate the encouragement!
I love plums Inger, these look perfect!!
Thanks Gloria! You should try preserving some plums for the off season if you are a big fan!
Oh my goodness, these look delicious! I am happy your shared the calorie count, it will help me enjoy them that much more. 🙂
Thanks Angela! I’m dieting right now, so the good calorie count made me especially happy!
Sounds like a yummy treat – and one that won’t sabotage my healthy eating plans!
That was especially nice for me given the current diet Beth!